April brought Easter, school holidays, a visit from my sister in Dublin, busy weekends and lots of amazing eating out, plus an NGV photo exhibition, going to a World Record Day gig, meeting up with friends and an afternoon in St Kilda. Other memorable moments were leaving my wallet in Geelong, riding around Brunswick with a mandolin on my back, and going to meetings of a history society museum sub committee which fill my mind dizzy with ideas about how to fit a rich local history into a small museum. You can read more about what I ate at my post on In My Kitchen: April 2026. I aso celebrated my 19th blog anniversary with a cake in April.
Above is photo of the gorgeous golden hues of sunset. It was taken by Sylvia from the Coburg train station platform. Now we have a sky rail, the station soars above the suburb and you can see the houses spread out below. I hope this view wont be blocked out by plans by our State government to make this one of the activity centres where building permits can be granted for up to 16 stories by the station.
Billy Van Creamy and the Edinburgh Gardens, North Fitzroy
On Easter Saturday, Sylvia and I went to have a vegan chocolate hot cross bun ice cream from Billv Van Creamy at their Sydney Road store in Brunswick. They were sold out but directed us to the Fitzroy North store (212 St Georges Road). It was good ice cream. Not overly spicy but it had chunks of hot cross buns in the creamy ice cream. Sylvia was less keen as she does not like cashew based ice creams as much.
The shop is a hop skip and jump to the wonderful Edinburgh gardens. It was the best place to enjoy an ice cream on a glorious spring day. We sat watching people walk their dogs, groups gather around the bbq, small kids on the play equipment, older kids throw balls to each other and students lying on the grass. I went for a walk by the avenues of trees and around the edge of the gardens opposite heritage residences. It amused me to see the different groups picnicking on the lawn: young men with stacks of pizza boxes and tubs of pringles; young women in active wear with large water bottles, the cool kids with dyed hair and chunky boots; and some older women with folding chairs and desserts they had
bought at a fancy cafe, packaged in eco-friendly cardboard tubs with
domed clear plastic lids. All walks of life came to the park to enjoy the sun on a long weekend.
Easter in Geelong
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I took an Easter nut roast to Geelong to contribute to my mum's roast dinner (see more about it at my post on In My Kitchen: April 2026.) My Easter roast dinner was a delicious plate of nut roast, roast potatoes, peas, cauliflower cheese and a beetroot and pumpkin salad.
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My sister fran stole the limelight at dessert with this spectacular and cheeky malt, maltesers, hazelnut and chocolate cake that she was given by @juliamakescakes in exchange for some of her great Frankly Raw peanut butter! We also had a pavlova and a basque cheesecake from my mum. The basque cheesecake looked burnt, as they do, but tasted amazing.
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We exchanged Easter eggs among the younger cousins. I gave my older nieces hot cross bun decorated foldable shopping bags. My dad who is a master at present giving ordered coloured glass easter eggs (in colourful gift bags) for each of his grandkids, with personalised colours after he spoke to the artist about each of them.
Also in the photo is Fran's contribution of Smug non-alcoholic margharitas. (Disclosure: she was given some to review.) I avoided the chilli margharita and tried the coconut margharit. The lime flavour was nice and refreshing. Opinions were more mixed about the coconut flavour which I didn't mind but I would have preferred that the drinks were fizzy.
Bear Statue, West Brunswick
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I had a ride to Essendon and as I cross the pedestrian and bike bridge across the M2 freeway just north of Albion Street I was cheered to see this colourful little bear statue with lots of flowers, hearts, bones and scales.
Brother Bon, Northcote
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I don't have great memories of Loving Hut years ago with its chest freezers and fluorescent lights. More recently it has been renamed Brother Bon (377-379 High St, Northcote) and has a far more welcoming decor and a huge vegan menu. It is Sylvia's newest favourite vegan cafe. She has convinced me that though there is a lot of mock meat, there are many other options with tofu, tempeh, etc.
So we had a meal there recently which was really good. It was a tyranny of choice! We started with Cheeseburger cigars: Two jumbo handmade springrolls, cut in half and filled with Beyond beef, brown onions, our Big Mak sauce, and served with vegan mozzarella, aioli, white truffle oil, cornichons and oak green lettuce ($19) and Chinese broccoli and Chinese doughnuts, Cheung Fun (steamed rice noodle) ($19). They both impressed. I loved how the cigars imitated the Big Mac and I was excited at how good the Chinese doughnuts were, which I haven't had before.
For mains I had the Crispy chow mein noodles with an oyster sauce gravy and mixed seasonal vegetables and tempeh ($31). It was steaming hot, hard to break up the bed of crispy noodles, and I would have loved my tempeh fried more but it was a really good meal with lots of nice vegetables. Sylvia had the Smash burger ($33) which she loved. It had two smashed impossible beef patties, seasoned with our house burger blend, two slices of melted cheddar cheese on a toasted bun with aoili, truffle oil, chili jam, red onions, pickles, oak leaf lettuce, served with chips and a side salad
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We could not get through our mains. We were pretty full and put the leftovers into boxes to take home for dinner. However we managed to make room for dessert. Sylvia had the very colourful and cool Pandan creme brulee: silky pandan custard with caramelised sugar crust, coconut gelato, toasted coconut flakes, manog, raspberries and waffle biscuits ($19). I had the Vietnamese Banana Fritter (Chuối Chiên): Vietnamese banana flattened and fried in a tempura tapioca batter with black sesame seeds for a delicious. Golden syrup is drizzled on top, served with our handmande coconut gelato ($21). It was delicious with the promised "crispy yet chewy texture". I had my peanuts in a separate bowl so Sylvia could try it.
Brewdog, Pentridge, Coburg
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We had a lunch at BrewDog in Pentridge (E Building, T101/1 Champ St, Coburg) with an aquaintance. Sylvia had the Plant Powered Patriot Burger: plant based patty, plant-based bacon, cheese, baby gem, pickles, smoky BBQ ($31.95). I had the Caesar salad: baby gem lettuce, plant based bacon, crispy garlic crumb, plant-based Caesar dressing, pickled onions and I can't remember if they gave a plant based alternative to the parmesan ($27). Sylvia loved hers but I found mine not really my soft of thing. I should not have ordered it as I am not a fan of just lettuce and cream or their plant based bacon. There is lots on the menu I would prefer and will return to next time.
Coburg Lake
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After the disappointing vegan Caesar salad, I went to the Pentridge IGA's great salad bar and bought a small tub of pumpkin couscous salad and a green salad of freekah, lentils, edamame and kale. We had a walk to Coburg Lake and sat to eat a far nicer meal among the trees.
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I had a quick walk down to the lake to stretch my legs and felt much better after a walk and good food. It was so lovely to see the sky reflected in the lake.
Coburg Farmers Market
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We went to the Coburg Farmers Market because my sister Fran had a stall of her Frankly Raw peanut butter and also met my friend Kerin. The nearby Carlton Farmers Market was closed that weekend and it was busy at Coburg. Sylvia enjoyed a Mustry strawberry matcha with soy.
I had an amazing Cheeseymite scroll from Psomi. Sylvia had the vegan cardamom scroll from the Swedish baker. We took home some excellent seeded bread and a bunch of flowers. I also included in the above photos a picture I saw at Mustry of their Dubai matcha with a Cruncy Pistachio Kadayif. It is the sort of creativity I appreciate even though I don't like these sort of milky drinks. But I am open to a Dubai hot chocolate!
The farmers market was the start of a busy day followed by picking up my brother's mandolin, lunch at Son in Law and a Record Store Day gig.
Mandolin on a bike
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After the farmers market, I rode to a instrument workshop in Brunswick where my brother's mandolin was being repaired. It seemed easy to help out, being so close and planning to head to Geelong the next day where he lives. I just needed to work out how to get it on my bike but if you have a couple of octopus straps anything is possible. I had thought they could be useful for securing it on the rack but it fitted in my backpack and just needed the occy straps to counteract the zipper falling open.
And with the petrol crisis on, I was glad to save my brother a trip in his car to Melbourne. Though, I have noticed prices are much lower now. It has returned to the ho-hum "oh petrol is so pricey these days" rather than the wild-eyed "panic at the petrol bowser." The lull makes me anxious. Is it like the phony war in the early days of world war II when everyone knew they were at war but it didn't feel like it for months?
Son in Law and Fishbowl, Melbourne CBD
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Sylvia and I then took a train to meet friends at Melbourne Central in the city. I have written about our trip to Son in Law, as well as previous cute cartoon bao we have been served there. I could not resist a Totoro bao filled with fried tofu and a hash brown. I wanted some vegetables too.
Next door to Son in Law is a Fishbowl franchise that was not there last time I was here. I have some good salads at other franchises so I thought I would also get a salad there. Unfortunately there were no small side salads so I bought the smallest option: the Roasted Tofu box with, house slaw, sushi rice, umami cashew crunch, lime tahini dressing, sesame seeds. The tofu were tiny cold chunks that had barely been roasted. Although I had tofu in my bao, I kept looking enviously at Sylvia's generous bowl of hot freshly fried tofu. I ended up taking quite a bit of my box home but I ate all my bao.
Saskia Robins at Wah Wah Records, Collingwood
We could not stay long at Son in Law because I had promised Sylvia I would take her to see Saskia Robins perform as part of Record Store Day at Wah Wah Records (196 Smith Street, Collingwood). Luckily it is a short tram trip from the city. It was great to see Saskia Robins play in an intimate space with vinyl lovers coming and going to browse the rows of records. I don't know her music - heartfelt indie grunge rock - but I enjoyed it and was delighted at the cover of the Pixies' "Monkey Gone to Heaven". It was also lovely that Sylvia got to chat with her afterwards and talk op shops.
Visit to Geelong or "Where is my Crumpler?"
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We drove down to Geelong to see my sister and nephew from Dublin at my parents' place where they were staying. My mum served up lovely fried rice with tofu and arancini for lunch (as well as some chicken for the carnivores.) She had also made vegan scones so Sylvia could partake. Scones are my mum's speciality and these were delicious with some margarine and jam.
We all went out to a local cafe for a hot drink after lunch. While Sylvia, Chris and my mum were loving their coffees up one end, Dash, my dad and I were consoling each other at the other end because our hot chocolates were so bland and watery. And I had asked for mine extra strong! Later, when I went to drive home from my parents' house, I found I had left my Crumpler bag at the cafe. My dad heroically rushed over to check if anyone was still at the cafe but it was locked. (I hope they were not cowering under the counter after he had told them he was not impressed with the hot chocolate!) He could see my Crumpler in the cafe but could not get it until they opened the next morning. I was lucky I only had to wait a couple of days until Chris visited us at home in Melbourne and returned my Crumpler with my purse, my work swipe card and my bike light!
Luke's Bahn Mi, Melbourne CBD
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Finally we got to Luke's Bahn Mi in the CBD ( 518 Little Bourke St) in a little mall over the road from the impressive 19th Century Supreme Court of Victoria building on William St. It has been on Sylvia's list for a while. She was really pleased to get a Vegan Pork Crackling Bahn Mi with mayo, pâté, cucumber, coriander, hoisin sauce, fried shallots and pickled carrot, daikon and onoin. The vegan crispy pork cracking was crunchy with a soft underside that I think is meant to be pork belly (never had eaten the stuff). It was excellent and great value at $10. No wonder people rave about it.
I went with the Vermicelli bowl with fried tofu. It was not quite as cheap at $16 but was still pretty good with tomatoes, cucumber, coriander, pickled carrots and hoisin sauce. I enjoyed it but woudl try the crispy mushroom bahn mi next time. The tofu was pressed and not really crispy. Perhaps it was frozen first which gives it a diferent texture. Not quite my thing but I can see how those who like mock meat would love it. I am keen to try more because tofu aside, they do a fine cheap meal. After Lukes, we went to Toris and the NGV.
Toris bakery cafe, Melbourne CBD
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We have fond memories of a previous visit to Toris (28 Niagara Lane) where they have amazing baking in a chic vintage cafe. Sylvia was very keen to have a strawberry matcha. She rates it as one of the best matchas in the city. I went for a Dubai Chewy Cookie. I really wanted the crunchy creamy pistachio Dubai filling which was pretty intense in a really good way. It had a mochi-style marshmallow skin which was not so much my thing. Although it was coated with lots of cocoa, I would much prefer chocolate. It was only after buying it that I considered it might have gelatine and when I checked it did. I ate it and am very glad I tried it, but probably will not have another.
Women Photographers 1900 - 1975, NGV St Kilda Road
We got to the NGV St Kilda Road days before its exhibition on Women Photographers 1900-1975: a legacy of light ended. It was lots of black and white photos in a time when cameras and the art of photography were developing. At times it was hard to appreciate photos that seem quite ordinary from a 21st Century perspective but were very advanced for the time. Other photos were amazing to behold with lots of social commentary and beauty. Images were joyful, bold, and iconic. I enjoyed learning about the challenges that women overcame in becoming photographers early in the 20th Century and I stared in amazement at seeing a medal given to a suffragette hunger striker (in the photos).
The photo that delighted me the most was Virginia Woolf photographed in Tavistock Square in 1939 by Gisèle Freund. Beside it in in the photo collage above is an iconic photo of the Depression in the USA called Migrant Mother by Dorothea Lange (1936) which was part of the Farm Security Administration (FSA) Project that hired photographers. Beneath these photos clockwise from left are Ellen Auerbach's joyful R. Schottelius in New York (1953); Sue Ford's rural chic Carmel and Trish (1962); Women's Social and Political Union's Medal for Valour, awarded to Selina Martin (1909); Oliver Cotton's stunning Tea Cup Ballet (1935); Ponch Hawkes' No title (Graffiti, 'Braddock...not mild, but sexist') (1973); and Helen Levitt's New York (Boys fighting on a pediment) (c. 1940). Middle photo is more FSA photos.
Seen on the bike track
I regularly ride along the Upfield Bike Path and am sometimes amazed at the sights I see: a colourful parrot on passerby's shoulder, the penny farthing rider, a guy with a slithery animal in his hand that I guessed was a lizard, a cat in bubble backpack on the bike ahead, and little kids on the back of their mum's bike yelling in triumph at bikes they passed.
One night my bike light and back up light failed me. I rode along the cobblestone back lane in
the dark and saw what looked like a piece of clothing slung over a back
fence. Looking closer, I saw it was a Common Ringtail Possum with its long tail dangling down. It was so dark I needed a flash to take a photo which scared it away. Sorry little possum!
Rococo and Acland Street, St Kilda
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We had a lovely day out in Acland Street to celebrate E's birthday with Sylvia and my parents. Sylvia and I had loved the potato pizza at Rococo (85-91 Acland St) and she was delighted now she is vegan, to find that they have a large vegan menu. It is not on the website but can be requested. We shared the vegan potato pizza, a spaghetti ragu and a green salad. We followed this with a visit to the iconic Monarch Cakes for coffee and cake, and browsing in Readings book store. I plan to write more about it soon.
Huong Viet Vegan, Footscray
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I had an amazing Vietnamese pancake at Huong Viet Vegan (36a Leeds Street, Footscray) where I was dining with Sylvia and Faye. On the menu it was called VN Pancakes with Tofu & Mushrooms - Bánh Xèo Tàu Hũ ($27). It was huge with lots of delicious fried strips of tofu and mushroom. I love the crisp yellow pancake that is usually gluten free because it is made from rice flour. It was served with lots of green veg and herbs as well as a chilli sauce that I swapped with a sweet chilli sauce we had with our fried wanton starter.
Sylvia had a fragrant Pho with a whole Beyond Beef burger in it - I was surprised it was not chopped to eat in the soup with noodles and vegetables. Faye was less keen on her fried chicken before it was more spicy than the menu suggested. They both loved their Vietnam iced coffee with vegan condensed milk. I was happy with the bottomless pot of tea that was served free of charge.
In the News:
Australians say "stop the war", Albanese says "catch the bus", by Joel Jenkins, in Bogan Intelligentsia, 6 April 2026. "When the petrol runs out, you will return to the scene of the crime."
War crimes or war hero? The curious response to the case of Ben Roberts-Smith, by Eddy Jokovich and David Lewis in New Politics, 14 April 2026.
Voters no longer want managers – they want fighters, by Kos Samaras, in Pearls and Irritations, 15 April 2026.
"Jesus of Mar-a-Lago", and the questions it raises for the media, by Nick Bryant on History Never Ended substack, 16 April 2026.
Angus Taylor and the Liberal Party’s moral decline, in Pearls and Irritations, Paul Keating writes: Angus Taylor’s embrace of “values” politics marks a return to racism, abandoning the Liberal Party’s traditions in favour of base political appeal.
Iran’s AI memes are reaching people who don’t follow the news – and winning the propaganda war, in The Conversation, 18 April 2026.
The NDIS and the Price of Compassion, The Snarky Gherkin substack, 24 April 2026.
It’s no surprise Trump has met his match in Pope Leo – the US president represents the polar opposite of Christianity, Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian, 25 April 2026.
Listening, Watching, Reading:
Bearing witness to the parts of the whole, by Randa Abdel-Fattah, in Mondoweiss, 18 April 2026.
This is an amazing long read. It is the speech Dr. Randa Abdel-Fattah gave upon being awarded the Australia
Palestine Advocacy Network’s 2026 Jerusalem (Al Quds) Peace Prize on
April 10, 2026. She "reflects on the fragmentation she has felt since October 7, caught
between daily life and the normalization of live-streamed annihilation
of Arab and Muslim lives."
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows. I loved the insight into life on the Isle of Guernsey in the English Channel when occupied by the Germans in World War II. I even watched the movie which was not as good but had wonderful views of the island's scenery.
Yanis Varoufakis on misogyny, resistance and why everything could be different - highlights from the recent Australian tour of economist and author Yanis Varoufakis, with contributions from a cast of very special guests across live events. Follow the Money podcast, The Australia Institute, 8 April, 2026.
A Matter of Facts: Wikipedia co-founder on freedom of speech vs disinformation, Global Roaming podcast on the ABC, presented by on 13 April 2026. Wikipedia was 25 years old in April.
The Great British Bake Off - We have enjoyed binging a few series of the Great British Bake Off. It was really interesting seeing the most recent 2005 series followed by the first series in 2010. The quality of baking has increased enormously from cosy home baking in 2010 to sensational creations in 2025.
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